The Best of XY (2016): English Equivalent

The Best of XY has no direct English equivalent. Released in Japan in late 2016, this High Class Pack collected 187 reprints from across the XY Card Game era and added Full Art versions of trainer cards that were never released in English with that artwork. If you are searching for the English counterpart to THE BEST OF XY, it does not exist as a set.

The reason is timing. The English XY series ended with XY Evolutions in November 2016. The Best of XY arrived too late for Wizards of the Coast to localize it as a standalone product. Its reprints had already appeared in English across individual XY sets. The Full Art Trainers and new reverse holo variants, however, remained Japan-exclusive.

Set at a glance

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What's different in the box

The main draw of The Best of XY is not the reprints themselves. It is the new treatments those reprints received. Two categories of upgrades made this set worth hunting for import collectors:

Reverse holo variants. Many XY-era cards appeared only as standard holos during their original print runs. The Best of XY gave those same cards a reverse holo finish for the first time. These reverse holo versions exist only in Japanese and only in this set.

Full Art secret rares. Sixteen cards above the 171-card base number are secret rares. Eight are Full Art Mega EX and EX cards: M Camerupt-EX, Jolteon-EX, M Manectric-EX, Regirock-EX, M Lucario-EX, Zygarde-EX, M Sharpedo-EX, and Aegislash-EX. The other eight are Full Art versions of popular Trainer cards: N, Hex Maniac, Blacksmith, Karen (Stadium), Delinquent, Shauna, Team Flare Grunt, and a Yveltal-EX Full Art that closes the numbered set.

Pokemon Karin: THE BEST OF XY (Japanese)

$1,884.99 USD

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The Karen card is the defining BestOfXY exclusive

Karen (#183/171) is the set's most discussed card among collectors. In English, Karen appeared as a standard Supporter card in XY Evolutions. That English version has a trainer art style typical of the era. The BestOfXY Full Art version carries entirely different artwork and never received an English printing in this form.

Karen's effect lets a player shuffle all Pokémon in their discard pile back into their deck, which gave her utility in both the original XY format and later legacy play. Collectors who want this specific FA are entirely dependent on Japanese import sourcing. There is no English card to substitute.

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Japanese or English?

Price per pack

The sealed Best of XY booster box commands a significant premium on the secondary market, reflecting both its age and Japan-exclusive status. Single packs are occasionally available through import dealers at prices well above the original MSRP. The Sky Pack is a lower entry point for collectors who want a piece of the set without the full box outlay.

Play legality

Japanese cards from The Best of XY are not legal in standard or expanded Pokémon TCG tournament play. The reprinted cards are legal only in the formats their original English printings qualify for. If you plan to play Karen in an expanded tournament, you need the English XY Evolutions version, not the BestOfXY Full Art.

Language and grading

For PSA and CGC grading, Japanese cards grade on the same quality scale as English cards. The BestOfXY Full Art secret rares are popular grading targets precisely because they have no English equivalent: a PSA 10 Karen FA is the only graded path to that specific artwork. English collectors who want a graded FA Karen have one source.

Collector's approach

Most English collectors approach The Best of XY through individual singles rather than sealed product. Sealed boxes have been scarce since 2017 and price accordingly. The Karen FA and the N FA are the two most searched singles from the set. Other Full Art trainers from the set (Hex Maniac, Delinquent, Shauna) are more accessible given that their English counterparts also exist as Full Arts, which keeps demand for the BestOfXY versions more specialized.

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The XY era in Japanese: a broader collector context

The Best of XY sits at the end of a 16-set Japanese XY era that ran from January 2014 through late 2016. For collectors working through that era, the set represents a capstone release. Its 171 base cards touch nearly every major XY theme: Mega Evolutions, Primal Reversions, BREAK Evolutions, and both Kalos region starters across their evolution lines.

For holiday gift-giving, the Sky Pack is a practical option. It is a sealed single-pack product that lets a recipient pull a card from the set without the full box investment. For the collector already building an XY Japanese run, the Sky Pack offers a themed pack from a set they likely do not have.

The Japanese XY booster sets (XY1 through XY10, plus the BREAK-era sets) are available through import dealers for collectors who want the primary sources behind the reprints. The Japanese Pokémon Sets and English Equivalents hub maps each of those JP sets to their EN counterparts if you need to cross-reference which EN set a specific reprint originally appeared in.

Pokemon TCG 日版「The Best of XY」

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Frequently asked questions

Does The Best of XY have an English equivalent?

No. THE BEST OF XY (BestOfXY) is a Japanese-only High Class Pack. There is no English set with the same name or the same content. Individual cards reprinted in the set appeared in English across the XY series, but the set itself was never localized.

What are the chase cards from The Best of XY?

The primary chase cards are the Full Art secret rares numbered above 171. Karen's Full Art Stadium (#183/171) and N's Full Art Supporter (#180/171) are the most sought after because their specific artwork has no English equivalent, even though Karen and N both appeared in English sets.

Are Best of XY cards legal in tournaments?

No. The Best of XY is a Japanese-only set and the cards are not tournament-legal for standard or expanded Pokémon TCG play. Any card legal in expanded must be played in its English print to count. If you want to play Karen in expanded, you need the English XY Evolutions version.

What is The Best of XY Sky Pack?

The Sky Pack is a promotional single-pack product released after the main Best of XY box. It pulls from the same card pool. It is available from Japanese import dealers individually, making it one of the more affordable ways to open a pack from the set without sourcing a full sealed box.

When was The Best of XY released?

The main booster box released in Japan in late 2016. The Sky Pack promotional format became available from April 2017, per Serebii's card database. Neither product was released outside Japan.